Knowledge Base

Villa Serena – How to Play

Much like our own minds, Villa Serena was once a calm, relaxing place. But time and the stresses of life take their toll and can leave our minds unable to relax, be mindful and enjoy life.

This program has a very specific goal – To help you clear your mind.

There are no mentors. There is no instruction. There is only you and your own thoughts. The Villa Serena courtyard is an enclosed space free of of outside distractions. To complete this program, your task is to repair and restore Villa Serena by being still, letting go and breathing deeply, slowly and regularly. In the process you will restore Villa Serena to its former glory and begin to clear your own mind. You will finish the program refreshed, relaxed and ready to deal with all of life’s challenges. Good luck.

Please use this Knowledge Base article to help you get started as well as answer any questions you may have as you continue to use this powerful program.

Villa Serena will work with both the IomPE and the IomPro sensors on your Mac or Windows computer.

If you are using the IomPro sensors (white housing) you will need to use the IomDriver program. This is the same IomDriver program required for other Wild Divine software that use the IomPro sensors (green butterfly program icon – see below).

If needed, the IomDriver program can be downloaded FREE by clicking HERE.

IMPORTANT NOTES

IomPro Users – If using IomPro sensors please start the IomDriver BEFORE you launch Villa Serena to ensure proper connectivity with the IomPro sensors and the program.

IomPE Users – Please make sure you DO NOT have the IomDriver program running! It will interfere with the IomPE sensors and Villa Serena will not function properly. If you are using the IomPE sensors (green housing) no additional driver software is required.

Breathing is one of the most important tools in meditation. When you are breathing in this program to clear your mind, the active feedback is taking your heart rate signals and interpreting them to show you how your breathing cycle can be trained to become deeper, slower and more regular. This type of “breathwork” has profound benefits to your mind and body, as well as to your mental and emotional state.

As you breathe and do the repair work within Villa Serena, you will be breathing in time to a visual breathing cue. This will help your heart rate fall into a resonant frequency commonly referred to as Coherence. This particular frequency is known as the strongest and most stabilizing one, and it is associated with many positive changes in the body. When you are in Coherence, you can expect to feel more positive emotions, have increased intuition and focus and also recover more easily and completely from stressful situations. The breathing exercises in repairing the Villa Serena are intended to help you train your mind and body to achieve this natural state of balance as you clear your mind and enjoy your new beautiful surroundings.

When you initially open Villa Serena you will be presented with a menu that allows you to set various options regarding game performance and display settings. These settings allow you to customize the gameplay experience based upon your preferences as well as your system performance capabilities.

Screen Resolution

You can change the quality of the screen resolution to maximize your display’s capability or for optimal viewing. Increased screen resolution (higher values) also cause an increase requirement in processing power on your CPU and/or Graphics processor. We suggest starting at the default value of 1024×768 and adjust according to your personal requirements.

Graphics Quality

This setting controls the density and quality of the graphics during gameplay. Increased quality of graphics will also cause an increase requirement in processing power on your CPU and/or Graphics processor. We suggest starting with the default value of “Good” and adjust according to your personal requirements. If you are using an older or less powerful computer we suggest using one of the settings with the least performance impact such as “Simple”, “Fast” or “Fastest”.

“Windowed” Checkbox

If this is checked/selected, then the program will run in windowed mode. This will allow you to see other programs on your desktop as well as Villa Serena when using the application. If this is not checked/selected, Villa Serena will run in full screen mode and no other programs will be seen or accessible when using the program.

NOTE: If playing in Full Screen mode (“Windowed” not checked) you will need to use ALT+TAB keys in Windows to return to your Desktop and then RIGHT-CLICK on the PSM program in the Taskbar and select “Close”. Mac users – CONTROL-CLICK on the PSM icon in your Dock and select “Quit“.

“Only show this dialog if the option key is down” Checkbox

Once you find the settings that work best for you, check this box to save them as your gameplay preferences and the configuration will no longer appear at program startup. If you want to change settings after checking this option, simply hold down the OPTION key when you start the program and this menu will appear again.

LAUNCH MENU

The Launch Menu will appear each time you open Villa Serena.

How to Play

Selecting “How to Play” will provide you with an overview of the game.

Play

Opens the game to the beginning if never played or reset or to your last saved point in the game (see Gameplay below).

Buy Iom

Open link to Wild Divine Online Store for more information or to purchase Iom sensors.

SETTINGS

Iom Sensor Signal Indicator

As you play Villa Serena you will see an indicator that displays the quality of the Iom sensor signal. Red/Poor indicates that the Iom Sensors are not properly connected to the system/game or are not functioning properly. Green/Good indicates that sensors are connected and working properly.

If you are experiencing any issues with your sensors connecting to the program or your system, please refer to appropriate Knowledge Base article below for your sensor type:

Villa Serena has a number of settings that will let you create a very personal experience each time you use the program. These settings can be changed each time you do a session in the program. The program also stores your last setting change each time you change them.

You access the session settings by clicking in the upper right icon on the screen labeled “Settings” (see below).

Access to this function is available on all selection screens (Avatar, Location and Music).

When you press “Play” button you will be taken to the last saved position in the game or to beginning if new game. If your sensor connection is “Poor” you will also see the message “Warning: Iom is not detected. You must correct any issues with sensor connectivity in order to proceed.

To begin the event, click on the REPAIR icon.

Difficulty Settings

It is recommended that you start out with Normal, and adjust from there. The difficulty settings are configured as follow, relating back to your percentage of coherence in your breathing cycle. These levels are:

If (for example) your coherence cycle is set to Normal when doing a repair, you will need to be breathing at an average of 70% Coherence in order for repairs to begin, and complete. Start out as easy as you need to, and as you progress, challenge yourself to higher levels over time.

Progress and Status

During gameplay you can press the “T” key and toggle the Progress and Status display for more information regarding your progress or current status. It will appear in the upper-left portion of the display.

Breathing Cycle Indicator

When the repair event begins and you have chosen “Visual Breathing Cue” in settings, you will see the the blue butterfly’s wings open and close. It is this breathing pattern that will influence your heart rate variability and coherence scores which cause the repairs to occur in Villa Serena.

Inhale as the butterfly’s wings open and exhale as they close. Do both gently and easily and not in a forced manner. If you find that the cycle is not comfortable or feels unnatural try adjusting the Breathing Cycle upward or downward in Settings depending upon your specific requirements. For most people this breath cycle is 10 seconds but use a value that is most comfortable for you. When you inhale do so by allowing your belly to gently expand (“belly breath”) and allow it to gently contract as you inhale. Do not force the breath in or out but let it flow gently and easily in and out. This is the most relaxed method of breathing and an easy exercise you can do anytime you need to relax yourself.

Objectives

The objective is to repair and restore Villa Serena by being still, letting go and breathing deeply, slowly and regularly. “Trying harder” is not an effective means of achieving your relaxation objectives. Simply relax and breathe along woth the breathing cycle you have chosen.

When you have completed each repair event you will begin to see Villa Serena’s restoration as well as begin to see and feel your own.

Tips and Suggestions – Start off with the Normal difficulty setting and adjust upward or downward based upon your initial attempts. The more you use Villa Serena the more you will become more familiar and in tune with your body’s state of relaxation and your breathing cycle. As you complete repairs successfully, feel free to adjust the settings to more difficult levels to help you increase your relaxation capabilities.

The repairs will take slightly longer to perform, based upon their difficulty. You will need to have a certain number of breath cycles successfully at or above the coherence difficulty you have set for yourself. Small lantern repairs take 4 breath cycles, wall repairs 12 cycles and the more complex ruins will take 16 breath cycles. Filling the pool at the end of the game will take 360 cycles.

Remember that Heart Rate Variability (HRV) is an important component in improving your coherence score. Adjust your Breathing Cycle rate so that your are easily and in a very relaxed way breathing in sync with the breathing indicator on the left side of the screen. Once you find this natural rhythm you will also find increased state of relaxation.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION and SUPPORT

Credits

Contact Support

If you are experiencing issues with Villa Serena you can contact us at Villa Serena Support for further assistance.